PCB Making

[shawn]

Hi Everyone

I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas on making or having Printed boards made at a reasonable price. I currently use PCBExpress and they do a good job, however they are pretty expencive and you have to order at least two boards. I hope someone could give me an idea of where else to have them made. Or a link that explains how to do it yourself. And not the sharpy marker way.
Thanks
Shawn

[eoasap]

i use www.pcbfabexpress.com (refer 'eoasap' if you use them please)
2 layer
5 board min @ $13/board
(ends up being $80 shipped to me, 5 day turn time)
7 mil trace & spacing
15 mil via's
unlimited drill sizes
soldermask, silkscreen included

www.pcbpool.com is one i was thinking of trying, but i dont like the huge shipping they charge.

[rhino]

When I get up to speed with Eagle Cad, I intend to use http://www.batchpcb.com. They are geared towards the hobbyist market.

[Kamikaze47]

I make my own using a laser printer, a copy of time magazine, and iron and some etching compound.

check out this link for detailed destructions:

http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm

This method is very good for prototypes or when you only need 1 or 2 pcbs. It works out MUCH cheaper!

[eoasap]

how well does that work? that does seem like a really cheap, fast, and convenient way to make (small) boards from home.

[Kamikaze47]

it works very well... ive used the method to make over a dozen boards and they all turned out perfect... the trick to making sure it works is not to skimp on the iron... make sure the printed page and board get nice and hot.

[Ron Marcus]

I use Eagle for the board artwork, and Injectorall to print the board. I had little success with iron on, and my consistency was lousy. The photo process is more difficult, but the the results look professional, board after board.

Ron

[Kamikaze47]

Strange, cos ive had 100% success with the iron on method.

[bartman]

For the dinky few I make in a year I used the photocopy method as well. I bought "special" paper from Digi-Key at the time to do it. I haven't done enough of them yet for them to look 100% perfect (meaning some of the lines were a bit jagged), but it is cheap to do for making a few prototype boards where looks might not be a big issue.

I checked out that Kamikaze47 listed and I think my next ones will be better using the tips there.

Bart

[BertMan]

I used Advanced Circuits when I was pumping out 5000 at a time, using my own gerber files. Not sure if they are cheap for small orders though. Also, check out Sparkfun.com. They do small orders of 1 and 2 at a good price.

[Dick Ivers]

http://www.olimex.com

[arniepj]

I too use photoresist boards as they come out accurate.Foils can be very close together.I print the foil layout on a laser printer transparency.Once you have it setup, the whole process of expose,develope,and etch takes about 40 minutes.Drilling time of course depends on the number of holes.One nice thing is the component holes are etched out,letting the drill bit slide right into place.The boards are more expensive and you need the ultraviolet light.For a good looking one time project its perfect.

[shawn]

Thanks alot everyone you have all given me some more options for making PCB's.